Our Winter 2017 Issue

When you stop to think about it, we observe to a pretty crazy calendar on the Cape. For ten weeks—from Memorial Day to Labor Day—the pace of life here ratchets up several notches as we accommodate the swell of summer residents and tourists. Roads become more congested; restaurants, shops and grocery stores teem with customers; and out-of-town company cycles through our guest rooms. We barely have time to recover from summer when the holidays arrive. After the mad dash from Halloween to New Year’s Eve, I, for one, am ready to recharge my batteries and catch up on my reading. I’m really looking forward to checking out some of the suggestions for books and viewing programs Michelle Koch solicited from farmers and fellow foodies in her article, Media for Mulling. In particular, I’m intrigued by The Lean Farm: How to Minimize Waste, Increase Efficiency, and Maximize Value and Profits with Less Work. I’d love to know how to get more out of my garden with less sweat equity!

I also plan to spend more time in the kitchen in the coming months. I am going to break out the fondue pot (yes!) and brush up on my puff pastry making skills. John Carafoli provides two recipes for one-pot meals that are perfect for the long, cold nights ahead. We haven’t tackled feijoada yet, but every winter we host a cassoulet dinner that is a popular ticket among friends and family. Constructing a dish over a couple of days is definitely more manageable when there are fewer distractions. And, in the case of these two dishes, the result is the perfect meal to share with a crowd. We encourage you to give one or both of these recipes a try. With all the ingredients for feijoada so close at hand, perhaps this year we’ll swerve to Brazil instead of France for our mid-winter feast.

This past summer we put out a request to our regular contributors to suggest candidates for a story about an accomplished home cook. Most of the suggestions we got were for people professionally involved in the food service industry. We had something else in mind altogether, so we were delighted to get Aline Lindemann’s pitch about Art Hultin, a general contractor on the outer Cape whose homemade hot sauce mutates over the season depending on the output from his two organic gardens. We’d love to create a regular feature about talented home cooks, especially those who put in the extra effort. If you know someone who makes their own charcuterie, pasta or bread; hosts an annual pig roast; or creates pâtés from fish they’ve caught and smoked themselves, we’d love to hear from you.

Finally, it can’t be said enough that there would be no Edible Cape Cod without our loyal advertisers. Putting out a magazine that relies solely on the paid advertisements in the offseason is a challenge; many businesses prefer to spend their limited ad dollars during the peak summer and fall seasons. The businesses in this issue are the only reason you are holding this free copy of Edible Cape Cod in your hands. So, please, thank those businesses for supporting us and support them with your business.

See you in the spring!

Dianne Langeland